Elsewhere In The World: U.S. Soldier Is Now Charged With 17 Counts Of Murder In Afghan Killing Spree, And He May Go FREE!

Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales faces 17 counts of murder and six counts of assault and attempted murder when he is charged Friday for his alleged role in the killings of Afghan villagers, a senior U.S. official said.

Bales, 38, stands accused of leaving a remote outpost in Kandahar province’s Panjwai district on March 11 and going on a deadly house to house rampage.

U.S. and Afghan officials initially said 16 people, including nine children, were killed. The official, who spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because of the nature of the case, could not explain why the count is now 17, when 16 were reportedly killed.

Afghan government officials in Kabul said the death toll remained at 16, and that they did not have record of another death.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force declined to comment on the report of pending charges.
The discrepancy will be explained when charges are filed, said Col. Gary Kolb, an ISAF spokesman.

Bales’ lawyer, John Henry Browne, thinks that his client has a good chance of getting off scot-free!

Browne predicted the case — whenever it comes to trial — is going to be “extremely difficult” for the prosecution.

“They have no murder scene, no forensics,” the lawyer said Thursday night from outside his Seattle office. “I’m going to make them prove every claim.”

Military law experts acknowledge proving the case may be hard, especially given that there are no autopsies to help prove the cause of death — in large part because those killed were buried quickly, in accordance with Islamic tradition — and witnesses may not willingly fly from Afghanistan to the United States to testify.

Afghans are insisting that the suspect be returned to Afghanistan to face trial, with villagers and lawmakers questioning the U.S. military’s account of what happened. But a military official said in Afghanistan on Sunday that Bales will be tried in the United States.

WTF is going on nowadays where people can commit murder and just walk around freely?!?! *side-eyes George Zimmerman*